My dad was absolutely elated. He went on and on for WEEKS about this trip, even as we were packing up his 2017 Nissan Titan XD he said we were going to have an amazing father-daughter bonding weekend. Why, could we not have had a bonding weekend indoors, at a resort perhaps?! No no, that wouldn’t be any fun according to dad. So here we are at Treehouse Camp at Maple Tree. We are in the depths of nature and already I am feeling the misery sinking in. But I love my dad so I will persist!

To my dad’s credit, he brought everything but the kitchen sink. Like, everything. I was kinda impressed with all the things he fit in that truck. As we were setting up the tents and the campsite in general for our glorious bonding weekend the trip didn’t seem so bleak. Once camp was set up dad started cooking for our first night at the campsite. The food was good and the quiet was surprisingly soothing. We were actually having a decent time.

Well, we were having a good time until it started pouring rain and our campsite started to wash away. It seemed that dad had planned for this. He picked up one of the tents and set it up in the bed of the truck put down an air mattress and made his home there. He then proceeded to arrange the cab area of his truck into a nice little bed area for me. I could stretch out comfortably and definitely didn’t have to worry about the water, or even bugs really, getting into my sleep area. Dad and I were able to carry on our conversations despite the rain because the back window of the truck slid open and dad had arranged the tent so that the window was covered by the tent. It was a pretty sweet setup.

The next morning, we got up, well rested and went about our plans for the day. Come to find out, several of the surrounding sites flooded out. The neighbors’ tents had filled with water and they didn’t have cars quite as spacious as my dad’s truck, so their night wasn’t nearly as restful. We even needed to use the truck to pull another family’s car out of the mud.

At the close of my father-daughter weekend, I realized that I actually had a good time, even with the monsoon. I still wouldn’t call myself an outdoorsy person, but I wouldn’t be opposed to going on another adventure with my dad, especially if we take the 2017 Nissan Titan XD. With his truck and my dad’s planning ahead, we’re ready for anything!